Thursday, February 25, 2010

Here are a few of my mouse drawn graphics that you can use for St. Patty’s Day. I learned to draw with my mouse about 12 years ago and have a hard time drawing with a pencil now. Just click on the graphic – it will open in a new window, then right click and save as to your computer. Enjoy :)

Thought I would take a photo of what I've been working on. It took me most of yesterday and the better part of this morning to get it done because when there's a baby in the house...well I'm sure you all know...they come first :) I used heavy cotton canvas so it will last forever! I used one of my old aprons for a template/pattern and the old style crow label came from Denise at Sassafras Hill. It turned out great! If you would like one for yourself or want to send one to someone as a gift, you can order them on my website Country Cabin

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

My Granddaughter gave me quite a chuckle today. She has the most amazing facial expressions I’ve ever seen on a baby. You can tell what she’s thinking just by the look she has on her face. I was taking some photos of her with Charlie the rabbit with my digital camera and after I took a few shots I was looking at them through the window viewer of the camera and decided to show her. She looked at herself in the camera, looked up at me, looked back at herself in the camera, then up at me again with one raised eyebrow and a very confused look. It was priceless and I keep trying to capture these expressions on film but of course she is the same as most babies and won’t do it when you’re holding a camera in your hands!

Here’s one of our pet rabbit Charlie and the best dog I ever had the pleasure of keeping company with - Chanel. Chanel is no longer with us but will always remain in our hearts. She had a long happy life with us and Charlie misses her like crazy too. Charlie is a house bunny and provides hours of entertainment for all, especially Hailie. I just wish he would stop chewing everything! His favourite things to chew are wires and rugs! If anyone has any helpful hints to help him to stop I’d sure appreciate it.

I hate to mention the “S” word on here because after reading some of the blogs I love to visit it’s easy to see why some people are tired of winter already! Y’all have way more snow than we do so I’ve been content looking at all the photos I’ve seen online. Here, where I live, in Northern Canada, we’ve hardly had any this year and I love snow. It’s beautiful, refreshing and clean. Best part of all…no bugs!!! We have about 6 – 8 inches on the ground now and it’s been a relatively mild winter compared to what we usually have to deal with – I’d rather have the snow than the –40C – way too cold for me! We’re usually the ones buried in 3 feet of snow or we used to be. The past few winters have been very “calm” for us. Here’s a snapshot of what we can expect over the next few days and just to make everyone feel better a couple of photos of snowfalls we had last spring!

This photo was taken in April 2009

This one was taken on May 31! Yes, May!!! Isn’t is beautiful with the leaves on the trees? LOL

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

I took this photo of my beautiful grand-baby wearing her very first Big Girl PJ's. Isn't she the cutest? She's nice and cuddly warm in her flannels! Up north we use flannel jammies pretty much from Sept - April for those cool Canadian nights.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

I found this recipe years ago in one of the magazines I read but I can’t remember which one it was or what the recipe was called so whenever my family would ask what I was making for supper I would just say "You know…the chicken dish I always make” so for all intents and purposes I’ve renamed this wonderful recipe Chicken Dish. My family loves it and it’s a great way to get the little ones to eat their veggies!

Preheat oven to 350. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Cook in heated cooking oil in skillet. Salt and Pepper to taste. Keep turning until brown on all sides and cooked thoroughly. As you can see by the photo below I like my meat FULLY cooked in all recipes I make.

While chicken is cooking add both cans of soup into large roasting pan and stir until you have a smooth texture. Add 1 can water and 1 can milk and mix well.

Add bag of frozen vegetables and cooked chicken pieces to mixture. Cook on stovetop until veggies are soft.

Separate biscuits and cut each one into quarters and place evenly on top of veggies. Bake in oven according to directions on biscuit tube or until golden brown.

I don't see what all the fuss is about but then again I've never been big on Valentine's Day. Hubby and I wish each other a Happy Valentine's Day and maybe get each other a card when we remember but that's about it. I think Hubby wishes it meant more to me as he loves any excuse to spoil me but the frugal homesteader in me says it's a waste of money.

It meant more to me as a child than as an adult. I enjoyed handing them out and receiving them in school but I think that was mostly because we got to make our own and being the creative type, that was something I always looked forward to in school. The colored construction paper, glue, red and white paper lace, and red sparkles were so exciting to me! So many possibilities!

When my kids were growing up the practice of making your own Valentines seemed to have stopped by about Grade 3 or 4. Then it was on to purchasing the latest and greatest cartoon, movie, or pop star valentines to hand out to classmates. What a shame as the homemade ones were so cute and you could always tell which boy your daughter had a crush on by the one with the most glitter and X's and Os's scrawled all over it in bright red crayon.

It is a day of celebrating Love and I feel truly blessed to have so much in my life and in my home and I hope you do too!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Here are some vintage Valentine graphics for you to download and use as you like. I collect vintage greeting cards and I sell Vintage Image CDs on Ebay, Etsy and my website Country Cabin. If you’re looking for more great vintage images for your crafts check them out!

These are nice printed out on cardstock and used as Valentines…just add your own text!

Cook macaroni in boiling water until soft. Rinse under cold water and drain. Add to large bowl. Cut cheese and tomato into cubes and chop celery into small cubes. Add to macaroni and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in mayonnaise and refrigerate until needed.

This is great as a side dish for hamburgers and hot dogs while BBQ'n in the summer!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

We celebrated my oldest Daughter's 19th birthday today but it's officially tomorrow. She'll be gone to Toronto with her boyfriend and his Mother to do some shopping so we had them over for supper tonight. It's hard to believe that 19 years have gone by already. Wasn't it only yesterday that I was pulling her around the yard in her little tobaggan? Oops! My mistake, that was the wonderful Granddaughter she gave us this past July. They look so much alike it's like deja vu all the time. Hope you have an amazing birthday and a safe trip honey!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Hi! Welcome to my blog. My name is Connie and I'm a homemaker, wife, Mother, Grandmother, graphic artist, and primitive folk art artist. I live in northern Ontario Canada in a small town about 4 hours north of Toronto. It's the town where the Dionne Quintuplets were born and raised. I LOVE Christmas! I'm new to the blogging world but not new to computers as I've been online for many years now and have met some wonderful friends all over the world. My hubby and I met online and he moved up to Canada from warm toasty Texas about 9 years ago.

This blogging thing is pretty cool huh? And VERY addicting. I find myself checking out the latest on the blogs I've been following. It started innocently enough with a few of the primitive craft ones, then clicking on one of their links, then one of those links only to find out there's another and another and another.... There are so many talented and interesting women out there that share their ideas and passions and stories with us. I love the whole idea of sharing recipes, craft projects, photos and more! I don't know about you all, but when I check on one of my blogs and see there's a new post I get excited and end up spending WAY too much time reading when I should be working. I LOVE Christmas and all the decorating photos I've seen! WOW! Y'all have some real talent out there!

I have always been creative in one way or another for as long as I can remember. I love to draw, paint, color...you name it! I even learned to draw using only my computer mouse and absolutely love the graphics program Paint Shop Pro! I sew, stitch, make candles, and scrapbook. I love vintage primitive decor and making primitive crafts. I hope to have my whole house done in an old primitive farmhouse style eventually. I don't live in a farmhouse anymore but do live out in the "boonies" as some would call it. I just call it country. We have deer feeding right off our deck in the backyard at night and tons of birds, squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons and more. The only indoor pet we have now is a lop eared bunny rabbit who thinks he owns the house. Did I mention I absolutely LOVE Christmas? I work on Christmas craft projects all year long. I watch Christmas movies and listen to Christmas carols all year long. Some people think I'm obsessed...I just smile and wish them a Merry Christmas!